1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to trays, and, more particularly, to trays for customers of business or commercial establishments, such as for the presentation of bills and for payment of the bills.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is rather common usage in various business or commercial establishments, such as food and beverage establishments, to present a bill or statement of charges on a tray to a customer. The customer responds to the presentation of the bill by placing on the tray the appropriate payment for the bill, either in the form of cash or of a credit card of some type. The trays are typically relatively shallow, long, and narrow. They are designed to accommodate the type of bill used by the particular business establishment. Such tray usually have a relatively shallow and flat center portion with a slightly raised outer periphery to prevent a bill, change, a credit card, or the like, from falling off the tray.
Unless the customer takes time to mentally add the various charges together, or unless the customer possesses a pocket calculator for making the arithmetic calculations, there is no verification of the total of the bill. Furthermore, if a customer prefers to provide a gratuity of a predetermined percentage of the bill, there is no way of calculating the desired amount easily without the aid of a calculator or without expending time to mentally make the necessary arithmetic calculation unless the bill is for a round number which lends itself to easy calculation, or unless the predetermined percentage is easily calculable. Otherwise, the customer simply makes an estimate of what such intended gratuity should be, based on a mental rounding off of the figures or the calculation therefor. Similarly, a waiter/waitress must also perform the arithmetic calculations required in adding all of the charges together. This is either done mentally or with the aid of an adding machine, if available. Alternatively, a waiter/waitress may provide their own calculator for making the arithmetic calculations, including taxes, if any.